Pissei, the clothing sponsor of UAE Team Emirates, has issued a recall notice after a number of replica team winter bib shorts were manufactured with the logos on the legs the wrong way up.
“Unfortunately, we have only now become aware of an aesthetic production defect in the batch produced in the above period,” reads the email to customers who bought the latest version of the team’s 2024 shorts.
“Specifically, the logos imprinted with DTF technology on the bib shorts, are reversed in the RIGHT and LEFT leg.”
The Italian brand asks customers to check their shorts and if affected by the defect, offers to arrange collection and refund.
Adam Jones, who bought a pair of the bib shorts just before Christmas, received the email from Pissei, but his bib shorts have the logos correctly applied.
“In a way, I’m kind of gutted as the incorrect printing would have made them quite collectable,” he says. “Not least because Pissei released their UAE Team Emirates replica kit in small batches, making some of the first release stuff as rare as hens’ teeth. In fact, I had to wait until they released the second tranche before I could snaffle up the winter jacket and bib tights. The quality of the kit is exceptional.”
The kit supplied to Tadej Pogačar and the UAE WorldTour riders is not affected.
Pissei's Filippo Borgarelli told Cycling Weekly: "This is not related to UAE Team Emirates riders but to a really small batch of merchandising we are selling via our webshop."
Tuscan brand Pissei was founded in 1978, but only made its debut in the WorldTour in 2023, replacing Gobik as the clothing sponsor to UAE Team Emirates.
The 2024 kit isn’t radically different from the 2023 version, but the white jersey features new red, green and black vertical lines – the colours of the United Arab Emirates flag – emerging from the bottom hem.
“Pure white. Pure speed. Inspired by fast moving environments, the 2024 kit is completely white with a modern red, green and black geometric pattern,” is how Pissei describes it.
Star rider Tadej Pogacar, as Slovenian national champion, will wear a different version of the jersey that has red and blue bands around the chest.
The two-time Tour de France winning Slovenian will be hoping to add a third after disappointment last year, but he will also take part in the Giro d’Italia for the first time this year. The 25-year-old has never not finished off the podium in the four Tours and one Vuelta a España he has taken part in so far.
Pogacar's season starts with Strade Bianche on March 2.
